| Author |
Sony Ericsson Z530i Semi - Review |
waibun_lee
Joined: Dec 03, 2004
Posts: 264
From: UK
PM |
Bought the Z530i today from the carphonewarehouse for £79.99 on Orange. The phone is completely unbranded because they just gave me a sim.
In the box
- Phone
- Charger
- Manuals
Physical Aspects
The phone looks very nice, alot smaller than expected and is very lightweight. The phone can have changeable covers and this came with a black matt-like cover with feels quite smooth and comfortable to touch. Keypad is ok looking-ish.
Hands On
It uses the same 4 x 3 menu system with slightly updated icons, but the sub menus are simplified. Texting is quite comfy but it takes getting used to, calling is comfortable. The outer screen is quite handy as it shows phone status if you press the side button twice, and if you press it once it shows the time, date and network. Every thing is quite standard, camera is quite a let down with it only being VGA. the sound is quite crispt and the onboard 28MB is quite nice with the option to expand the memory using the new M2 memory cards. The screen is a major let down, as the resolution is quite low, under sun light its quite hard to read text, the games provided were quite awful, neopets etc. The media player is the same layout as the walkman series just not walkman branded, music through the mono speaker is respectable and the volume is acceptable. The connectivity is its redeeming value, bluetooth, infra-red and gprs. I've experienced no bluetooth issues as of yet, and the firmwire is very stable with no noticable bugs at the moment.
Verdict so far
Only having the phone for a few hours its not fair to give it a final verdict so I will update this post about battery life, performance etc at a later date. A phone that comes with, bluetooth and a decent media player WITH the option of memory expansion is good in my books, the major let down here is the camera and the screen. But for under £70 (£10 was a compusary top-up) it is not bad at all. So in short, so far so good, I will update this later on.
Enjoy 
_________________
Not even those tears streaming from her face will ever wash away this pain she has caused me
[ This Message was edited by: waibun_lee on 2006-05-28 19:21 ] |
|
|
haynesycop
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: > 500
PM |
Nice pictures! Do you have any off the menu at all? Also this may be a stupid question but is this a walkman phone, i mean it doesn't have the walkman logo but what is with the black/orange combo on the external screen? Can that be changed? Seems like a nice phone though, stylish.
|
fatreg
Joined: Jul 26, 2003
Posts: > 500
PM |
nope miss c, not a  phone...
fatreg
|
haynesycop
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: > 500
PM |
So why is the external screen orange and black, could it be changed? I am picky do not like anything walkman, lol.
That is a nice price though i am tempted by that i must say, anybody want a Z520i hehehehe.
|
waibun_lee
Joined: Dec 03, 2004
Posts: 264
From: UK
PM |
Hi, the phone isn't a walkman phone as the walkman version of this is the W300i, where that comes with 256MB card, HPM-70 and data cable. I'm a bit miffed that it didnt even with a 32MB card, or USB cable or even the bog standards SE handsfree :|
heres one of the menu its not great but hope it helps
Crib my supply (Phone: BB 9700) |
haynesycop
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: > 500
PM |
Ah i see, but the external screen is just weird then hmm, can it have a picture on the external screen at all? Thanks for the picture that did help, i weeeely like this.
|
waibun_lee
Joined: Dec 03, 2004
Posts: 264
From: UK
PM |
Nope it cant have any kinda pic on the external screen 
Crib my supply (Phone: BB 9700) |
waibun_lee
Joined: Dec 03, 2004
Posts: 264
From: UK
PM |
Here's a sample camera pic, everything is set to the highest quality.
Crib my supply (Phone: BB 9700) |
haynesycop
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: > 500
PM |
Not too bad on the picture quality cannot complain for £70! Shame about the external screen do not think i could live with that black/orange.
|
waibun_lee
Joined: Dec 03, 2004
Posts: 264
From: UK
PM |
The orange aint that bad, also the keypad backlight is also orange.
Crib my supply (Phone: BB 9700) |
amnesia
Joined: Jan 15, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Doha, London, Tokyo, Shanghai
PM, WWW
|
thanks for the review.
I really hate SE's lower end phones. They really like to make you feel crap.
|
shaliron
Joined: Jan 15, 2006
Posts: > 500
From: Melbourne, Australia
PM |
@amnesia
Yeah, I agree totally. The only ones that are decent are the Z520, J300 and Z300. Then again, if they make you feel that bad, it makes you want to spend up more...
A wooden spoon is a spoon made from wood. Source: WikipediaWinner of: Best Thread (Huge SE Portfolio) 2007, Best Post (Huge SE Portfolio) 2007, Best Signature 2007, and 2nd Best Nickname 2007. |
c_vignesh
Joined: Aug 16, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: TamilNadu,India
PM, WWW
|
How would you rate the phone when compared to the Z520 ? Is the internal display that bad 
|
waibun_lee
Joined: Dec 03, 2004
Posts: 264
From: UK
PM |
I've never had the Z520i but compared the the W550i the screen is awful for its class.
Crib my supply (Phone: BB 9700) |
|
|
Posted: 2006-05-28 20:21
